IN A NUTSHELL.

— Campbell is in work again. — The last Cromwell meeting resulted in a lo3s of £7 10s.

— The ex-hurdler Count Schomberg won the Chester Cup last week.

— Goldspur's dam (Itosespur) was last covering scasou put to a trotting horse.

— Sonimeil's son, Reve d'Amour, won the "Welter at Caulfteld this month.

— Tayforth, the gelding by Natator, won the Steeplechase at Caulfield this month.

— It was reckoned a record crowd that witnessed this year's Liveipcol National.

— The yearling half brother to Aurum, by Robinson Crusoe, has beea n.uuert Auriferous. — The Cromwell Club has fix«>l the 1597 Derby slake at. £50 and the "-take for the trot at £00.

— Winkrield"s Pride, winner of the Lincolnshire Handic.vp, is being reserved for ths A^cot Cup.

— NewhaV'jn has been shipped to England by i lie Oroya. The special box accommodation cost £50.

— Green Lawn wou the Liverpool Spring Cup, doing tiie mile and tliioo furlongs iv £rnin 42 2-ssec.

— Melinite's full-brother "Warfare, l>y Nordenfeldt — Pearlash, was found dead in Waal Australia recently.

— Olwyil won the Jubiloe Stakes at Koinpton Pj-rk (England) ou Saturday last, be:itiug Kilcock and Victor Wild.

— .Knnnalea started in the Liverpool Hurdle Race on March 27. She carried 10 10, and finished last in a fk-ld of 13.

— The rabies give Galtee More.-; price for tho Derby a* 2 to 1 on. He must ha\e bhown great form in the Guineas

— A month before the Liverpool National the owner of Manifesto offered to sell that horse and Gentle Ida for 50fiO-s.

— The yeailing 'mother to Patron, who was knocked down t > Mr J Mayo for 220gs at Sydney, was bought for Mr 'J. Brown. — Tirit'jj, Mutiny, aud Donald M'lvinnon have bean scratched for sill engagements at the North New Zealand Grand National meeting.

— Chitbaiu, presumably a lclative of the Mr Ohitham who used to race D?.n at Wungtnui, had his las broken while riding at Feilding.

— Ths Friar, who won the Egrnont Steeplechase, is a five-year-old son of iliko and lieligieuse, a>id was bred by Mr W. Douglas. — I notice that ceitain northern papers insist ou giving Roseleaf as the dam of Goldspnr. Once more ! remark that Roaespur is the mare's name.

— "He could got a galloper out of a keiosend tin" 5s the expressive form of a compliment paid in Australia to the Riverina hor«e Sunrise.

— In the Nursery Handicap, decided on the fourth day of the Australian Jockey Club's Autumn meeting, Aurum was handicapped at 10.13.

— The yearling oolfc Starbine (Carbine — Twinkle), who brought fioOgs at auction, will race in the joint interests of Messrs S. aud Fied Fielder.

— A yearling bought by Mr D. O'Brien in Sydney is by Corinth from Nonsense, by Albany ; Corinth, by St. Albans — Medoa, by Peter Wilkins.

— A heavy downfall of snow was experienced at Carlisle (England) the night before the March races, and a gang of men had to be put on to clear the track.

— Mi- T. Uphill has sold the Newmarket Handicap winner, Cavlton, to "Mo" Trahan, the jockey, who is acting on behalf of a native Indian sportsman. — Reports from England state that Persimmon has done lemarkably well during the winter, and it is considered a good thing that he will win the Ascot Cup.

— "Peeping Tom" fliyg it is rumoured that Mr W. Scoles'has been offered £50 for his pair, Getaway aud Rebec. Mr Scoles's selling pnee, however, is £70.

— King of the Ring has few winners now, but one cropped up in Victoria the other day — viz , Peveril — who got home in the Warrnambool Steeplecaa&e. — Waiuku (writes "Sentinel") is said to have been given his title from the fact that his dam used to haul round the water cart in the little town of the horse's name.

— The Liverpool Club this year introduced into the Grand National the system of white quarter cloths, each horse being given one upon which his name was worked in red letters.

— The Goodwood Handicap iv Adelaide, this year's result of which is reported in another column, is tha race in which D.O.D. paid the '. champion div. of £800 odd in 1881. j £ — The Prince of Wales has given tlie name j Diamond Jubilee to his colt foal by St. Simon — : Perdita, and therefore own brother to the Derby winner Persimmon and Florizel 11.

— Mr Laidlaw has been asked to reconsider his determination to resign from the membership of the Cromwell Club in consequence of the stewards' decisions on the protests in the trot.

— The shoitest time in which the Grand National has been won is*9min 30sec, by Huntsman, in 1562 ; the best time over the present course is Cloister's 9min 42 2-3« ec, in 1893.

— During the past year in America upwards of 1900 owners and drivers of trotters were suspended for non-payments amounting to 60,000ci01, while four associations defaulted in the payment of 7000dol.

— Fleet Admiral was bleeding slightly at the nose after winning the South Australian Stakes. He was supposed not to be anything like ready, which accounts for the dividend of £4 7s paid on him. by the totalisator.

— Acmena made her first appearance on an English racecourse at Lincoln on March 24. She carried top weight (10.2) iv a six-furlong welter handicap, and finished seventh in a field of 11, the race being won by Tender uud True 8.0.

— French owners are still agitating for an earlier commencement of two-year-old racing, and when the last mail left the French Jockey Club were considering the advisability of starting in May instead of August, as is tho custom at present. — Chicago Iloisenian says that the Detroit Jockey Club and several oilier American racing associations are seriously considering the feasibility of abolishing the bookmaking feature of their meetings and substituting therefor the totalizator.

— The Duko of Portland has chosen the queer name of " Decimal -JSO " for his colt foal by Carbine from Caithness and it is to be printed, if you please. "-<IZO" What the youngster will really be called, t ex-pact, by the racecourse crowd is Forty Five 3.

— At a race meeting recently held in Ireland a Farmers' Race was on the programme, for which only 10 horses weighed out, but 11 went to tho post. What is more, the odd one came iv first. The owner of the second entered a protest, and of course got the stakes.

— At the Bathurstshow Mr Bucldand gave three exhibitions with the trotting horse Fritz. On the second day a hack \ya« sent out to pace the champion, galloping. Fritz lost the hack in half a mile, and rattled over a mile on a looje half-mile track with sharp turns in 2min 18sec.

— All the old stagers, such as The Soarer, Cathal, Wild Man from Borneo, and Norton, came to grief in the Great National ; so that the argument once a safe Liverpool horse always one will no longer apply. Of the 28 starters 10 finished, 4 retired, and 14 fell in the race.

- — The celebrated Enslhh sire St. Simon true to the traditions of Voltigeur aud Vedette his ancestors, has never sired a chestnut. Galopin, the sire of St. Simon, never sired a chestnut until | recently, and this change of colour in his offsprin" is thought by experts to be a sign of imbecility. ] — The value of stallions of the highest class is going up fast ia America. Thirty thousand ; dollars was offered for Allerton (2min 9j3ec), 15,000d0l was bid for another prominent stock horse, and it is well known that there are several lO.OOOclol buyers looking for the best they can get. — A singular accident happened to a racehorse

at Newmarket (England) recently. In galloping hestiuck his near hind shoe with such force into the fore one as to get it completely locked, with the result that he rolled over on his side, and the shoo had to be taken off before he could be released.

— Several move or less apocryphal yarns have been told of the way in which Goldspur was despi&ed and rejected before his merits as a racer became known. One fact that I can vouch for is that onty 10^ stood in the way of a bargain between the owner and a doctor who wanted a horse for his trap.

— Paris 111, who ran away with the Northamptonshire Stakes last season, was a. competitor in the race this year, but got beaten out of a place. The lace went to Telescope, who ran untried, but has evidently gone ou improving since winding up last soason with a victory iv the Manchester November Handicap.

— The V.R.C. Committee recently decided that no horse in a huidle race or steeplechase at Flemingron should be handicapped over 13.7. Subsequently they amended their decision to tho effect that no horse shall carry move than 13.7, which means that a horse's penalty shall not bring his weight nbove 13 7. — Hefeiee say that Mr W. Douglas intends to make another descent on the Australian turf after the Givat Northern Steeplechase meeting. The team will consist of Tiritea and Donald M'Kinnon and probably Toriki and Nestor, tho latter being a five-year-old son of Toipedo out of Honeysuckle. Mutiny will be reserved for New Zealand engagements. — Mias Gladstone, by Statesman — Fantasia won the Glenhuntly Handicap at the Caulfield meeti'iff this month iv most praiseworthy style. The distance was a mile and three furlongs. Up to 50yds from home Moonlyong seemed to have the vn.ee at her mercy, but Miss Gladstone, who had been left at the post, gradually closed on the leader and wou by a hea'i. — It is understood, writes "Phaeton," that the sum paid by Mr W. Kathbone for tho stallion Apiemout was about .£390. Amongst the mares which Mr ltathbone possesses, and which it ia purposed to mate next reason with Apremont, is Merganser, by-Nordenfeldt — Albatross, who ia regarded on all hands one of the greatest marcs that ever graced the New Zealand turf. — A lad named T. Gardiner met with a fatal accident at Kensington (N.S.W.) while riding Itlioa in the Hurdle Race. The occurrence took place at the last obstacle, which the horse immediately iv front of Idica hit hard, and the huidle rebounding struck the mare, who toppled right over, throwing Gardiner and veiling over him. GarclMiev died without regaining his senses.

— " Phaot-n " states that a full sister to Mozel, the cioss-C'iuntry horse which ran third in tho Auckland Autumn Steeplechase, does duty occasionally behind one of the bullock teams in the neighbourhood of Te Aute, Hawked Bay. Ahor.se known a1;a 1 ; Frantic, who won a number of steeplechases at Rand wick. New South Wales, was similarly used by an oxen-conductor for some time before beiug brought out and raced. — "Telinga" writes: Carbine claimed three winneri at the A.J.C. meeting. Nona of his winners were first-class, but his yearlings .seen at tho salo were a distinct improvement on his eaily gets, and I am much more hopeful about his prospects in England than I was a little time back. All the same, Trenton is the sire I regret, as far as Australia is concerned. He was undoubtedly the champion sire of the clnnies. — At a recent meeting of the Cromwell Club's Committee a lettei was. read from the secretary of the Vincent Club suggesting an alteration of dates of the Cromwell annual meeting so that the meetings should not rladi with one another. The secretary stated fchat he had privately replied that he did not think there was the slightest chance of this club altering its date, and since then the Vincent Club had fixed the date of its meeting. — Says an English writer: "I do not ever remember seeing a horse look more all over a winner from start to finish of a race than Manifesto did in the National. Ila was beautifully handled by T. Kavauagh. I said to him after the race, ' I am sure you are a proud man this minute,' to which he replied, 'Why wouldn't I be, sir? I've been trying to do this for the last 10 years, and ought to have done it three years ago on Lady Ellen 11, but I didn'tknow the mare.' " — The Victorian pony Pickles must be a real wonder. At Caulfield this month he carried top weight, 9.3. in the Brighton Handicap, and won by six lengths ! There were a dozin behind him. His time tor the five furlongs was lmin 'IJsec. The Sportsman says that a certain punter won a couple of thousand over the transaction. A Victorian Club man competent to judge asserts that this same backer has taken something like £10,000 out of the ring during the pasb 12 months.

— Mr S. G-. Cook has experienced mora than his share of ill-luck in his last couple of visits to Sydney. The accident that occurred to The Merry Boy at Albury has prevented the son of Trenton from racing since the beginning of the year ; and at the late Autumn meeting The Officer struck himself while taking part in the St. Leger, and injured himself so badly that he had to be scratched for all engagements, and similar action had to be taken with The Hypnotist, who went wrong af cer runaing in the Easier Stakes. — Neckeisgat's firiat yearling.--, submitted to the hammer at Morphettville in ISS4, proved remarkably successful, establishing the worth of Neckersgatasa sire. They included Newstead, the winner of the Maribyrnong Plate ; Sedition, the winner of the Newmarket Handicap ; and Dunlop, who subsequently scored in the Melbourne Cup. Newstead, who was from Ada, was knocked down to Mr J J. Grant for 70ga ; Sadition fell to the bid of Mr Matthew Bryant, of the Cur-ran Currati estate, for 50gs ; while Mr J. Barker gut Dunlop for 38g«. — Bulletin says that Hopscotch, for all the talk about his in-and-out running, has been a consistont performer as horses go iu_ Australia. Up to March last (and everybody can remember what he has done within the present month) the big chestnut had started 30 times and put 11 wins to his credit. He was placed iv four other races and unplaced iv the remaining 15. But the 15 bad failures included ceveral events in which Hopscotch was running beyond his distance. In races of not mora than nine furlongs he has more wins than losses to his account.

— That there in something peculiar about the temperament of Nowhaven is generally conceded, says " Caspian," but in the best intciestsof racing the stcwaula of the A J.G. should have made some inquiry into the horse's apparent inconsistent running Other owners of racehorses who are not so popularly known as th^ counectipus of Newhaven very naturally argue that if it had been their case the stewards would have caussd an inquiry, ami, as before wiitteu, such a course would have given inoro satisfaction to the public— the groat supporters of our racing institutions. — Ornie, the famous sou of Ormonde, is reported to hnvo suddenly developed signs of madness at the Katon Stud. It is understood that the Duke of "Westminster has decided that he shall serve no more mares. Madness in horses is not a, very uncommon thing. A recent case in point is that of M. 11 Lebaudy'.s bay horse Prince Simon, by St. Simon out of Rosy Morn, who was sent to France last summer to be sold as a itallion to the Government subsequent to his victory in the Clarence and Avondale Stake 3, but developed such symptoms of mania that he had to be destroyed.

— South Australian bookmakers have now adopted an ingenious system for overcoming the betting law. Moses now employs a runner to reinvest iv the machine a portion of the moneys received from the public, so that bookie always has a stock of tickets on hand in case of a police raid—conclusive proof that he is a totalisator commission agent and not, a bookmaker. The plan works all in favour of Mo^es. He never pays out at higher odds than 10 to 1, and frequently scoops a big machine div. The police admit that Moses is now beyond the reach of eveiything save fresh legislation. — Bulletin.

— The Steeplechase run at Hamilton (Vie ) on April 8, for which the tivst three hordes were disqualified for running inside the flag posts, camp before the V.R.C. Committee recently. James Murray, of Warrnamboo], owner of Nutmeg, who came in first, appealed against the decision of the stewards, on the ground that the number of Desperado, who finished fourth, and was awarded the stake, was not displayed by the judge in his box. In these circumstances Murray contended that the race should have been declared no race. The appeal was dismissed, the committee beinc

satisfied that the judge had posted tho num her o the fourth horse.

— The mandate by which the Victoria Racing Club warned off for life Benjamin Nathan np. peai'3 to have been, audaciously set at naught during the recent A. J.O. meeting, says the .Age. The disqualifications imposed by the governing body in Victoria are recognised by the A.J.C., or ftt any rate that has been the impression of the members of the V.R.C. ; yet notwithstanding the grave accusations of malpractice made against Nathan, and held to have been proved before the V.R.C. Committee, he was permitted to figure in the paddock at Randwick and bet on the extensive scale for which he was noted during hia short association w ith the Victorian turf.

— Posilano, who won the A.J C. Place Handicap, is an imported hoise by St. Simon. His dam is Ponza, by Springfield from Napoli. by Macaroni from Sunshine, by Thormanby. In England Positauo ran seven ti-iies last year, hi 3 best performances, writes an exchange, being in tho Ascot Derby, one mile and a-half, in which ho ran Conroy, the winner, to a length, and in the Zetland Plate, one mile, at Newmarket, where he finished second in a field of thieo to Shaddock. He also ran a good third in the City of London Breeders' I'oal Plate, one mile, with seven starters. Positano is not the first of St. Simon's stock to win a race in Australia. Elsie, a daughter of his. won four races for Mr W. R. Wilson.